Month: January 2016

Where in the world…

Today, my sister joined me after work on my “thrifty-turf” for a spin at the east-side Goodwill in Bloomington. When it comes to thrifting, I am admittedly more of a sprinter, whereas Chrissy is the marathoner–especially when it comes to clothes, so I definitely had my work cut out for me today trying to keep up with her!

I was already in line, waiting to checkout when Chrissy lured me over to take a look at the coat section. I’m ever so thankful for her efforts, because I found the perfect red London Fog trench coat for a Carmen Sandiego Halloween costume. Funnily enough, Chrissy found a nearly identical London Fog trench coat in beige, but she ultimately passed it up.  I on the other hand splurged a whole ten bucks on what is sure to be one of my favorite costumes of all time!

Chrissy found many treasures including an adorable measuring cup set, another great basket and lots of cute “new” clothes. She even found a great pair of Clark’s sandals on the “the cart” near the end of our visit…and as she rightfully pointed out – that pair of shoes alone, would have cost more than what she spent on everything else.

“Found a great London Fog trench coat” ….”So did I!”
A basket full of goodies from the Goodwill
“Peace Train” – a reminder to the kids to keep things “chill”
Preppy IU scarf
V.I.L.E. Henchmen everywhere: Eat your heart out!
“Chance made us sisters, hearts made us friends”

 

I also found a fun sound machine that I’m looking forward to using in upcoming episodes of our podcast, and a USA Olympic jacket – for only $2.50 (because it was tagged with the “Color of the week”  – I’m so ready for our Olympic-themed garage sale this summer!

Best tip = frequent trips

What’s the best tip for finding great treasures at thrift stores?  Frequent trips! A visit to a thrift store doesn’t have to be an day-long affair. I’ve gotten quite good at making a quick stroll through the stores I like best in under 10 minutes (typically while my husband listens to a game on the car radio or catches up with Facebook – but sometimes when I just have a few minutes to spare on my lunch hour).

You don’t have to commit to going every day, but for the best picks – try to get to your favorite stores at least once a week so you have the best pick of new arrivals. I’m a fan of Saturday evenings – having found that Saturdays tend to be a day when people do lots of house cleaning. Lots of people hit the Sunday color-of-the-week sale at the Goodwills in the Indy metro-areas, but if you are looking for something very specific, keep in mind that you might have the best selection on Saturday night.

On a related note – there’s no need to go broke. Remember – if you are only looking for treasures or things on your “shopping list” you don’t have to spend a fortune (or anything at all) every time you go to a thrift store.

My favorite finds this week?  More puzzles, some fun new scarves, and a murder mystery party!

Checking things off my list

I’ve been on the lookout all weekend for a chair for my craft room (i.e., an upgrade to the folding chair that I’ve been using for the past couple of years).  I sat in just about every chair at each of six different Goodwill’s that I visited this past weekend until I found the perfect one – and I’m ever-so-glad that I didn’t settle for one of the other ones I’d seen along the way!

At first glance it doesn’t look like it would be all that comfortable, but it is amazingly sturdy and well-proportioned.  I’m not sure if its a bonafide antique, but it looks cool and seems to be well-made.  At just under $7 it seemed to be a steal.  I also found a chair pad for $3 to soften it up a bit, but was impressed that the caning was in such good shape. Its always nice to check something off your shopping list – this definitely wasn’t the chair that I thought I was looking for, but ended up being the perfect fit for what I needed.

At the west-side Goodwill in Bloomington I saw a site I’ve never seen before on Sunday…

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I also found another Department 56 house – this is from the North Pole village, but definitely worth the $1.99 they were asking for it even though it wasn’t on my shopping list.

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Makeover Monday

A good weekend of thrifting usually means fun new looks for the coming week.  This week’s finds included a Coldwater Creek jacket, a pair of Seven Jeans (I’m somewhat clueless when it comes to the pricier  brands – so I was excited to learn that these jeans likely sold for $80 upwards when they were new), and a shirt from Talbots.  The original retail cost of these three items alone would cover several months of Goodwill shopping sprees for me.

Here are some of the outfits I’ve assembled with my newest finds.

Everything except the necklace is brand “new-to-me”
Seven Jeans
a fun new look that incorporates some jewelry that I already owned
I was focusing on the red-end of the color spectrum

Our First Saturday Haul: January 2016

Here in Central Indiana, the Goodwill has regularly scheduled sale days each week and each month including Facebook Fridays, Extra Color-of-the Week Deals on Sundays, but arguably, the biggest sale day of the month is the first Saturday whole-store half-price off sale.  No matter the tag color, no matter the item, everything in the store is half-off.

There are pros and cons to taking advantage of the first Saturday sale day. The obvious downside is the fact that sale makes for a very crowded store and long lines for changing rooms and checkout. There’ve been days I haven’t been able to find parking at my local stores and if you only manage to find one or two treasures, sometimes the wait time just isn’t worth it.  On the flip side, its a great day to stock up on clothes and other household goods if you can tolerate the crowds. Plus you don’t have to track down a specific color to get the best deals since everything in the store is on sale!

Yesterday, I hit the Goodwill in Martinsville on my way up to Indy and found a cool puzzle on sale for fifty cents a Dickens Village house for only $2.50, and a Clue game for $1.50 (the later of which turned out to be an even greater deal when we discovered that it had all the pieces – more to come in future posts about what to do when a game doesn’t have all the pieces).

160 identically shaped pieces – oh my!
Dicken’s Village Church
Clue FX Board Game – with all the pieces
A bundle of cocktail umbrellas for a buck
The cart!

I joined up with Chrissy, Anna, and Evie and we ventured to three Goodwills in the Indy area – including Noblesville, Olio Road and Fishers. As always (or at least usually) Chrissy cleaned up in the clothing department – but I had some great finds too including a funky puzzle with 160 identically shaped pieces (won’t that be fun!) and a bar cart for $5 that I’m looking forward to redecorating

The more you spend, the more you save. Chrissy outspent me, but there’s no doubt she also out-saved me when you consider the heap of brand-name clothing that she found for less than $3 per item.  She also found some fun planters and baskets that she’ll use for her crafting projects – a leg stretching device and an awesome lamp base that she had the perfect shade for.

Lots of clothes
A funky tool for stretching your legs
All the tags, red was the big winner (and not surprisingly the new color of the week!)
Awesome basket
The perfect shade for the lamp base Chrissy found

Anna found two hedgehogs and a fun hedgehog shirt along with some other goodies.

Two new friends
Too cute – a holiday hedgehog shirt
Awesome desk accessories

Evie, the rockstar, found a “paper” guitar. We also found some great books for her – First Saturday sale days are the best days to shop for books since they aren’t tagged with color tags and therefore aren’t part of the weekly sale rotations.  Same goes for shoes.

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Rockstar Evie jams out some tunes on her new treasure.

As Evie so wisely pointed out at the end of the day, more so than the treasures she found, her favorite thing was getting to spend time with people she loved.

TIPS OF THE DAY

  • Check “the cart” multiple times.  The Goodwill is constantly restocking and the newest inventory comes out on big carts. Checking the cart is generally a good tip, but especially on the first Saturday when all of the stuff on the cart is half/off!
  • Don’t forget to check the checkout displays. Chrissy found the blue lamp base in the checkout line.  Whether its things that people have put back at the last minute or other seasonal items that have been placed near the checkout lines, don’t forget to scan these shelves for treasures that others might have overlooked.
  • Sleep in and shop late!  We didn’t start shopping until about 4:30, but the longer we went, the less crowded the stores got.  There were still plenty of deals to be had, and I’d argue that we found the best finds at our very last stop – simply because it was easier to get around the store to find things, easier to try things on, and generally less stressful.
  • The early bird gets the furniture. Furniture gets really picked over by the end of the day – it seemed like some people had come to the store early to buy furniture items and then came back later in the day to pick them up.
  • First Saturdays are the best days to shop for books and shoes – Since these items aren’t color-tagged, first Saturdays are typically the only days that they go on sale.

As I was getting off the highway back in Bloomington, I realized that I was behind a Goodwill truck…apparently on its way to restock the Westside Bloomington store for the Sunday color-of-the-week sale.

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Follow the truck!

 

 

 

The thrifty gene

My sister Chrissy and I grew up in a thrifty family, we shopped at discount outlets, flea markets, and discount chains our whole life. One of our dad’s shopping mantras was to check to see if stores took expired coupons, undoubtedly a value that his very frugal parents instilled in him. I guess its safe to say that thriftiness runs in our family and Chrissy and I undoubtedly got the thrifty gene. But surprisingly, it wasn’t until our thirties that we discovered the joys of thrift store shopping – something to which we are both now completely addicted.  We are also working hard to pass our thrifting skills on to a new generation, i.e., her three kids.

We have so much fun exchanging tips and talking about our thrifting finds and adventures and we’ve been saying that we were going to start a blog for a long time now – but this year we’ve decided to make it a reality.  We invite you to join us (virtually for now) on these adventures – and to share with  us your own thrifty stories and tips, if you feel so inclined. In the meantime, happy hunting and best wishes, from Jen and Chrissy – The Thrifty Sisters!